Game 27: Habs/Laffs

Tonight the Habs begin a 3 games in 4 nights stretch against the Maple Leafs, who blow into town fresh off of a 3-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. While you would hope Montreal can take advantage of a worn out opponent, Habs-Leafs history tells us to temper our expectations. This game could go any way the wind gusts. As of 11:30 there is no word on who will start in net tonight, or which injured players will be back in the line-up. Here’s hoping the Habs collect 2 points tonight as they face a tough test against Buffalo Thursday and then face Boston in the official 100th Anniversary of our beloved franchise.

*Edit: Gomez and D’Agostini will be back in the lineup tonight. Carey will make his 9th consecutive start.

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8 Comments

#1 Senet1 says:
December 1, 2009 at 8:17 pm

Mats, one thing that makes me upset is we are having our 100 anniversary game and the scheduler did not have the sence to give us a fighting chance to play our best game. Really back to back games and 3 in 4 nights. Sounds like the NHL doesn’t care about marketing the game or the canadien fans. It is bad enough to be back to back games but 3 in 4 nights is just not a fair schedule especially under the circumstances.

#2 Senet1 says:
December 1, 2009 at 8:18 pm

I hope that Martin has the sense to put Halak in the net Thursday night, so Price will be fresh for Friday nights game.

#3 Senet1 says:
December 1, 2009 at 8:19 pm

Actually if we are going to move up in the standings we need at least 5 of 6 points out of these games. It is asking a lot out of a team full of injuries.

#4 Mats Naslund says:
December 2, 2009 at 1:18 pm

You’re right Senet1, I was going to comment on the schedule prior to the Sabres game, but it is an interesting lack of foresight that has resulted in the Habs having to play the night before the 100 Year anniversary which will undoubtedly have the longest pre-game ceremony in recorded history. One can only hope the team can keep it together in the first minutes of the Bruins game because they laid an absolute egg last night. You knew from the first goal that it was going to be a night where no matter what happened Montreal was going to struggle to score. I hate to say it but while I appreciated Gomez’s hustle it has been the same story with him for years – He’s got no finishing ability. New York had all kinds of problems scoring last season, and unfortunately that has been transfered to us. Whether he’s playing with Moen and MaxPac or Gionta and Cammy, Gomez has to find a way to produce when he’s given top line minutes. I’ll let him off easy for now as he needs time after an injury – but Montreal is running out of playoff leaway.

Chipchura has been sent to the ducks for a 4th rounder. I would caution those who think that Gainey is up to anything more – as Chipchura has been terrible and was benched for the final two periods of last night’s embarassment. It is extrememly sad to watch a first round centre walk for a fourth rounder though. Chipper went from being Captain of the National Junior team to career AHLer pretty quickly.

#5 Senet1 says:
December 2, 2009 at 6:26 pm

My initial reaction was that how can a fourth line centre who has a +10 rating not be worht more than a fourth round pick which will probably be something near the 100th pick of 2011.
I read something on one of the other site about offerin Gomez into waiver so see if someone would take him. How does that work with the cap space.

#6 Senet1 says:
December 2, 2009 at 8:04 pm

Sorry I was wrong about the +10 rating missed the – sign it was on the line above.

#7 Senet1 says:
December 3, 2009 at 12:20 am

Someone suggested that we would be better off to offer Gomez on waivers with the hopes that someone would pick up his salary, how does that work with the cap.

#8 Mats Naslund says:
December 3, 2009 at 10:45 am

If we were to put Gomez on waivers and he was picked up we would no longer be on the hook for his contract. The obvious down sides to this would be 1. We would lose our top centre. 2. We would have virtually given away Higgins, McDonaugh et al for nothing. 3. There are currently NO free agent centres capable of filling his shoes, and thus we would be forced to trade even more to acquire front line talent who may or may not be equal to the level of Gomez’s play. The reality is we are stuck with Gomez, and that may not be a bad thing if we can support him with other quality forwards. Right now its really difficult to know what exactly we have with injuries etc.

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Last Message 5 hours, 28 minutes ago

Senet1 : seriously ready to challenge for the cup. He will us win games but he will not be the difference between winning the cup and not winning the cup. You pick up players like that once you have the team ready to challenge,.
Senet1 : I am looking at the players to draft and there are a lot of big 6'3-6'5 forwards available ion the draft this year. If we could draft 3-4 big young players in the 2nd and 3rd round why would you want to give that up for a roster player who may have 2-3 years at best. If we are going to build a winner to have to build it with bigger players and there are a lot of good big players available this year. So you sign Ott and he is with us for the short run, but probably not when we are seriously re
Senet1 : Boullion is a great mentor for the young D-men
muller93 : Boullion is one of MBs great additions--Boull ion is a definite Keeper.
muller93 : Getting rid of Kaberle frees up a lot of cash. Boullion is small but is reliable and doesn't back down from anyone.
muller93 : Exactly Goalie any thoughts on a punishing D-man?
goalie : They;re showing determination adn skill vs Ducks and Blackhawks.
goalie : REd Wings could turn out to be the surprise team of this year's playoffs!
goalie : WE need to rid our team of Kaberle and Webber. Step two would be to then move Diaz. If we get that big d-man I believe that would push Boullion to # 7 on the chart. We'd then go with Georges, PK,Markov (to continue mentoring Ememlin) Tinordi as our starting six . THEN I'd be excited about our chances. We could then work on getting bigger forwards.
goalie : I too would gladly give up a 3rd round pick for Ott- the type of player we sadly lack. AND if we could get one more rugged, expeienced defenceman it would help immensely.
muller93 : Senet what you are saying makes sense but if we can get Ott for a 3rd round I'll take that all day.
muller93 : MB should be looking at a big D-man first, even though I like our blue line with the addition of Tinordi. We need that insurance just in case one gets injured. Also I'm a firm believer in starting with the goalie first then-defense-for wards-and we already have good goalie. We have all noticed when we have the lead Price is tough to beat.
Senet1 : So sometimes you have to sacrifice for one year or two to build that team in the draft. then add the finishing touches through FA and trades.
Senet1 : Muller, Detroit is another good example. They have been in the hunt every year with good well balanced teams yet only one or two cups to show for it. However, they have built a team that has a chance every years for the last 10+ years. That is what I think we have a chance to do this year with a good draft. It reminds me of the habs teams of the mid 80 and 90's we built a team then with sold draft picks and won the cup twice during that time period. So sometimes you have to sacrifice a one
muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.
muller93 : Senet normally I would agree with you on not trading draft picks but we are not in a rebuilding stage. Sometimes draft picks can be a roll of the dice and it can take up to 3 years to be NHL ready. We have a good team and I agree with Stuo players like Clowe-Torres-Ott -Scott will make a big difference. Somebody has to protect Gallagher, he can't keep getting hit the way does--we need a tough forward so they think twice before going after Gallagher.
Senet1 : Really a heathly Habs team would probably win more games against the Pens that we did against the Sens. Reason they Pens would not play as physical against us as against the Sens. If we get good goaltending we win at least two games.
zpezada4ok : hello all «link»
stuo11 : hes a tougher big guy too! Just a minor adjustment but will help a bit
stuo11 : hes better than markov, and hes french who was in mention for defenceman of the year
goalie : Markov for Beauchemin - an injury prone d-man for an ;old timer'd-man. Beauchemin is NOT what the Habs need in my opinion. He is a HUGE defensive liability.
goalie : Stuo 11 I'd make that trade with Oilers fast BUT I doubt the Oilers will make that. Two marginal d-men at the best for a switch of first round picks - not a chance .
stuo11 : markov for beachemin?
stuo11 : let moen go
stuo11 : maybe try and get steve begin back
stuo11 : we wouldve kicked out all other teams but pens, sens,
stuo11 : pens have alot of forwaRDS same with us but we have better goaltending
stuo11 : theres styles of play goalie. Sens played us good, but lost games to southeast teams florida and tampa and get crushed by leafs EVERYTIME. sens and leafsd cant beat bruins but we do frequently
stuo11 : Diaz weber and our 1st for their first edm
goalie : SEns beat us 4 games to 1. Pens had last night's game under their control. What does that mean if we were up vs the Pens in a series. I think the Habs have a way to go before we're competing for Lord Stanley's Cup!
Senet1 : If he could score goals like Lucic and we could sign him to a four year contract then I would consider it too. However, NOT if we only have him for one to two years.
Senet1 : So we went from 27th pick to 21st pick.